Haley Lu Richardson

Haley Lu Richardson (born March 7, 1995) is an American actress. Following early television roles on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2013) and the ABC Family supernatural drama Ravenswood (2013 - 2014), she received recognition for her roles in the critically acclaimed coming-of-age film The Edge of Seventeen (2016) and the psychological horror film Split (2016). She went on to garner a nomination for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Columbus (2017), and earned critical praise for her roles as Maci in Support the Girls (2018) and Stella Grant in Five Feet Apart (2019).

Haley Lu Richardson was born on March 7, 1995, in Phoenix, Arizona, the daughter of Valerie, a marketing and branding professional, and Forrest L. Richardson, a golf course architect. Richardson attended Villa Montessori through middle school, then Arcadia High School. She was a regular in theatrical productions and regional dance competitions throughout the Southwest. From 2001 to 2011 she was a leading dancer in Phoenix's Cannedy Dance Company. In 2011, she moved to Hollywood, California.

In 2013, Richardson began a recurring role as Tess in the ABC Family series Ravenswood. She has appeared as a guest on Disney Channel's Shake It Up and was a co-star in ABC's pilot production "Adopted". She played Juliana in the Lifetime original movie Escape from Polygamy, alongside Jack Falahee. In 2016, she had a recurring role as Ellie in the Freeform drama series "Recovery Road". Her early film career included a leading role in The Last Survivors as well as supporting performances in The Edge of Seventeen and Split.

Her breakthrough came in 2017 when she starred opposite John Cho in Columbus. For her work in the film she was nominated for the 2017 Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress. Reviewing Columbus in The New Yorker, Richard Brody praised her performance: "Richardson in particular vaults to the forefront of her generation’s actors with this performance, which virtually sings with emotional and intellectual acuity." In 2019 Richardson starred in the romantic drama Five Feet Apart opposite Cole Sprouse. In the film she plays a cystic fibrosis patient, Stella Grant, who falls in love with a boy (Sprouse) with the same disease.

In 2009 Richardson founded Hooked by Haley Lu, a line of crocheted clothing and accessories she designs and creates.

In April 2018, Richardson revealed that she was engaged to Canadian actor Brett Dier, whom she had been dating since 2012.